This serves 2-4 people, but it can be enjoyed as leftovers the next day (just store in an air-tight container in the fridge).

Simply put, Bristol Bay is an amazing place. We are back on terra firma and the 2017 fishing season has come to an end. The river systems in Bristol Bay are literally teeming with spawning wild Sockeye Salmon. Combined, the major river systems; Naknek, Kvichak, Alagnak, Ugashik, Egegik, Wood and Nushagak rivers have close to 19 million Sockeye digging redds, depositing eggs and milt, carrying out a natural cycle that that has been repeated year after year for centuries.

Photo Credit: Bob Waldrop

The fishing season itself was glorious, exciting, hectic, frenzied and downright exhausting. Every year the Sockeye enter Bristol Bay in a different pattern and this year was no exception. At one point in early July there was a 4-day period during which the cumulative daily catch and escapement into the river systems exceeded 3 million fish! To put this in perspective; the total catch and escapement for the entire Copper River Sockeye salmon fishery for the 2017 season was around 1.4 million fish. 59 million wild Sockeye returned to Bristol Bay.

Photo Credit: Bob Waldrop

At Pride of Bristol Bay our message to all wild salmon lovers is; Savor Bristol Bay and Save Bristol Bay. This year’s wild sockeye fillets and portions are as beautiful as ever. Whether you fill your freezer through one of our buying clubs or have our Bristol Bay Sockeye delivered to your door when we launch our home delivery program this September, every pound of wild salmon we sell will generate a donation to the Save Bristol Bay campaign. The campaign raises awareness, educates and advocates for one of the world’s greatest cold water fishery habitats on behalf of me, you and every stakeholder. So, when your Savoring our wild Sockeye fresh off the grill, don’t take that privilege for granted, and when dinner’s over take a minute and visit www.savebristolbay.org and learn how you can help keep this amazing resource healthy and robust for generations to come.

Photo Credit: Bob Waldrop

Good Morning Bristol Bay Wild Salmon Lovers,

It is going to a beautiful day in Bristol Bay. As we prepare our boats and nets for the 2017 harvest that will soon bring rich, red sockeye fillets to your table, there is a CRISIS looming.

For the past decade our friends at Alaska Region Trout Unlimited have been tireless advocates for the cold water fisheries habitat in the Bristol Bay watershed. Their Save Bristol Bay campaign has been the foundation of a national collaboration of thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of individual stakeholders that want nothing more than stewardship and responsible management for the world class wild salmon resource in Bristol Bay. The proposed Pebble Mine and all the associated impacts of developing a huge, hard rock sulfide, open pit mine in the watershed put the core asset of Bristol Bay; it amazing wild salmon resource at significant risk.

Through the pubic process the EPA has received over 1.5 million comments with the same clear message: Pebble mine never, Bristol Bay forever. The EPA listened and took steps to ensure Bristol Bay salmon, jobs, and culture would be protected from Pebble.

Unfortunately, the EPA and The Pebble Partnership, influenced by the agenda of the current administration, recently made a deal that could undo the proposed protections for Bristol Bay that so many of us requested and Bristol Bay so desperately needs.

Administrator Pruitt needs to be reminded that the majority of Alaskans and millions of Americans who enjoy wild, Bristol Bay salmon do not want the region to be destroyed by Pebble mine. PLEASE Tell the EPA today: DO NOT rollback the proposed protections for Bristol Bay.

You can also contact The EPA director Puitt by phone via phone (202.564.4700) or you can send a letter/email like:

Dear Administrator Pruitt:

More than 1.5 million Americans wrote to the EPA asking for strong protections for Bristol Bay. Withdrawing the proposed determination would fly in the face of an overwhelming majority of Alaskans and put the short-term interests of a foreign mining company above thousands of American jobs. We are writing you today to ask that you stand with American jobs and communities and not withdraw the proposed determination.

Alaskans asked for the EPA’s involvement and for up-front protections for Bristol Bay’s jobs and fisheries. Please do not trade American businesses and jobs and our wild salmon for the shallow promises of a foreign mining company.

Signed, ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________

Thank you so much for your help with this and we look forward to sharing this summer’s harvest with you in a few short months! You can stay current with the Pebble Mine issue by visiting www.savebristolbay.org and signing up for email updates and newsletters.